The  Full  Measure  of  Responsibility 

A  PAPER 

read  before  the 

Children’s  Section 

of  the 

National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction 

At  Philadelphia,  May  10,  1906. 


BY  WILLIAM  H.  PEAR 

w 

Assistant  Secretary,  Boston  Children’s  Aid  Society 

(Now  General  Agent  Boston  Provident  Association) 


Worthy  of  a  Second  Pleading  by  Every  Social  Worker. 


Reprinted  by  the  Russell  Sage  Foundation  Department  of  Child-Helping. 

New  York:  1909. 


The  Full  Measure  of  Responsibility 

A  Paper  Read  Before  the 

Children’s  Section 

of  the 

National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction 

At  Philadelphia,  May  10,  1906. 


BY  WILLIAM  H.  PEAR. 


The  following  paper  was  written  in  1906  for  the  Children’s  Committee  of  the  National 
Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction  by  Mr.  William  H.  Pear,  now  General  Agent  of  the 
Provident  Association  of  Boston,  but  at  that  time  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Boston  Chil¬ 
dren’s  Aid  Society. 

This  paper  is,  in  my  opinion,  one  of  the  most  important  recent  contributions  to  the 
literature  of  philanthropy.  While  it  was  written,  primarily,  for  workers  in  behalf  of  chil¬ 
dren,  it  is  equally  valuable  to  every  one  who  undertakes  to  deal  with  suffering  humanity. 

The  spirit  of  the  paper  is  expressed  in  the  phrase,  “the  need  of  diagnosis.”  The  gist  of 
the  paper  will  be  found  in  the  “Essential  Principles”  on  pages  4  and  5. 

The  paper  was  sent,  in  advance  of  its  public  reading,  to  the  writer,  who,  recognizing  its 
merits,  printed  1,000  copies  for  distribution  at  the  Conference.  These  copies  disappeared  as 
if  by  magic.  It  was  printed  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Conference,  and  reprinted  in  pamphlet 
form.  It  was  reprinted  in  the  Children’s  Home  Finder  (circulation  30,000).  It  has  recently 
been  reprinted  by  Children’s  Charities  (circulation  40,000),  and  we  are  now  printing  5,000 
copies  for  distribution. 

Single  copies  will  be  furnished  free  of  charge.  Larger  numbers  can  be  secured  at  cost. 

HASTINGS  H.  HART, 

105  East  22nd  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


/ 

THE  FULL  MEASURE  OF  RESPONSIBILITY 


BY  WILLIAM  H.  PEAR. 

Reprinted  by  Request  from  the  Proceedings  of  the  National  Con¬ 
ference  of  Charities  and  Correction.  1906. 


Genuine  help  can  be  rendered  to  those 
in  need  only  when  full  responsibility 
is  realized  and  accepted,  and  when 
scientific  inquiry — i.  e.,  diagnosis  of  the 
need — is  followed  by  assistance  which 
aims  to  remove  the  cause  of  the  need, 
or  by  relief  that  is  adequate,  so  far  as 
that  is  possible.  How  many  of  us  who 
are  engaged  in  work  for  children,  in 
children’s  aid  societies,  day  nurseries 
and  asylums,  would  find,  by  reviewing 
the  individual  cases  dealt  with,  that 
they  would  stand  the  test  of  comparison 
with  this  standard?  The  fact  that  one 
has  it  in  his  power  to  oflfer  a  certain 
kind  of  assistance,  is  no  reason  why  he 
cS  should  address  himself  simply  to  the 
question  of  giving  or  withholding  that 
assistance;  considering  merely  whether 
he  can  take  the  child  as  asked,  instead 
of  that  vastly  important  consideration, 
should  the  child  be  taken  from  its  fam¬ 
ily  at  all. 

THE  NEED  OF  DIAGNOSIS. 

Many  years  ago  a  long  advance  step 
was  taken  in  removing  the  dependent 
child  from  the  almshouse,  and  the  hos¬ 
pitable  asylum  rose  to  supply  the  need. 
Then  the  development  of  the  placing-out 
system,  came  in  some  instances  to  re¬ 
place,  and  quite  generally  to  supplement 
and  modify  the  work  of  the  asylum. 
During  the  past  twenty  years  we  have 
focussed  our  attention  on  the  question, 
how  best  to  care  for  the  children ;  the 
relative  merits  of  the  placing-out  and 
the  institution  methods  have  been  d»s- 
*  cussed.  I  wish  to  urge  that  we  now 
turn  our  attention  to  this  other  very 
important  phase  of  our  work,  the  need 
of  what  may  be  called  case  diagnosis 
and  its  attendant  responsibilities. 

Here  is  an  obligation  not  to  be 
shirked.  It  rests  upon  every  agency 
at  the  moment  when  the  individual  child 
seeks  admission  to  its  care,  for  there 
is  always  a  chance  that  there  may  be 


no  other  human  agency  to  intervene 
between  that  child  and  want  or  even 
calamity.  The  responsibility  at  this 
point  is  yours  and  you  must  face  it. 
These  applicants  are  seldom  far  sighted. 
They  are  in  distress,  and  they  do  not 
know  what  they  really  need.  They 
have  appeared  at  your  door,  but  they 
may  reach  no  other  in  season,  except 
with  your  assistance.  One  of  two 
things,  therefore,  must  be  done;  you 
must  either  deal  with  the  situation  your¬ 
self  or  put  the  applicants  in  touch  with 
the  best  service  that  your  community 
affords.  In  any  case  there  can  be  no 
such  thing  as  proper  and  adequate  as¬ 
sistance  without  careful  diagnosis  of 
the  need;  and  if  we  regard  the  occa¬ 
sion  as  one  in  which  we  have  merely  to 
decide  whether  or  not  to  receive  the 
child  into  our  institution,  we  have  not 
struck  the  pace  which  present  day 
standards  require. 

Consider  the  situation  for  a  moment 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  commun¬ 
ity.  In  the  first  place,-  it  must  be  ad¬ 
mitted  that  the  social  forces  of  any 
community  are  very  inadequately  or¬ 
ganized  if  there  is  not  some  place  where 
the  needs  of  a.  child  in  want  can  be 
analyzed,  and  a  remedy  suggested  and 
applied.  If  a  child  is  ill,  it  is  possible 
to  have  the  case  diagnosed  speedily  and 
prescribed  for  in  a  dispensary,  or 
treated  in  a  hospital  clinic,  by  an  in¬ 
dividual  physician  skilled  in  the  work 
he  is  called  upon  to  do.  But  if  a  child 
is  in  need,  or  if,  as  is  often  the  case, 
family  need  is  thought  by  relatives  and 
friends  to  be  child  need,  in  how  many 
places  can  the  same  skillful  treatment 
be  assured? 

It  may  perhaps  be  conceded  that  the 
most  scientific  and  economically  sound 
plan,  in  theory,  would  be  to  have  a  cen¬ 
tral  bureau  of  inquiry  and  advice,  where 

all  cases  of  child  need  might  be  diag- 


r 


nosed,  and  to  which  all  helping  agencies 
might  refer  all  applicants.  With  such 
a  single  bureau  duplication  of  effort 
would  be  avoided  at  the  outset.  But 
it  is  obvious  that  such  a  plan  only  needs 
to  be  stated  to  reveal  any  number  of 
practical  difficulties.  The  very  size  of 
a  city  like  New  York,  for  example,  as 
well  as  the  definite  classification  of  its 
organizations,  no  doubt  makes  the  sin¬ 
gle  bureau  at  once  impracticable.  Never¬ 
theless  the  two  main  features  of  such 
a  plan  are  apparent  and  well  worth  not¬ 
ing  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  how  far 
it  may  be  possible  to  approximate  them. 
I  refer  to 

( 1 )  The  elimination  of  waste  effort, 
and 

(2)  The  intensification  and  wise  di¬ 
rection  of  effort. 

a  clearing  house  oe  experts. 

Whether  or  not  the  first  object  is 
attained  by  the  plan  of  a  single  bureau 
need  not  matter,  provided  there  is  ef¬ 
fective  co-operation  between  agencies 
in  their  work.  But  the  second  and 
more  important  consideration,  the 
thoroughness  and  skill  with  which  the 
work  is  done,  demands  our  earnest  con¬ 
sideration.  Such  a  bureau  as  I  have 
referred  to  would  be  a  sort  of  clearing 
house,  officered  by  experts,  whose  ex¬ 
perience  would  constantly  grow  more 
valuable  through  the  large  number  of 
cases  with  which  they  would  deal.  The 
agents  should  be  shrewd  and  trained 
observers,  with  some  clear  understand¬ 
ing  of  the  symptoms  of  mental  and 
physical,  as  well  as  moral,  defects  or 
disorder,  and  they  should  be  in  close 
touch  with  consulting  physicians.  They 
should  be  men  and  women  of  character 
and  trained  intelligence ;  sympathetic, 
constructively  imaginative,  wise;  with 
an  understanding  of  human  nature,  and 
a  wide  knowledge  of  the  community’s 
resources  for  help.  And  besides  these 
qualities  they  should  have  this  keen 
sense  of  their  responsibility  for  the 
maintenance  and  development  of  the 
highest  possible  standards.  Here  we 
would  have  an  agency  which  would  re¬ 
semble,  in  its  function,  a  combination 
of  dispensary  and  hospital;  ready  to 


diagnose  and  to  refer,  as  the  need  re¬ 
quired,  to  special  agencies  for  expert 
work  in  special  lines. 

For  the  purpose  of  outlining  the  var¬ 
ious  stages  through  which  the  work  of 
such  a  bureau  should  proceed,  I  wish 
to  call  attention  to 

EIGHT  ESSENTIAL  PRINCIPLES. 

(1)  Co-operation :  Keeping  in  close 
touch  with  all  agencies  to  prevent  dup¬ 
lication  of  effort  at  the  outset  (an  end 
best  attained  through  a  central  regis¬ 
tration  bureau,  where  all  agencies  make 
inquiry  concerning  each  case  before  act¬ 
ing),  or,  it  may  be,  uniting  effectively 
with  another  agency  in  working  out  a 
plan  agreed  upon. 

(2)  Diagnosis  of  the  Need :  The 
work  of  an  expert  investigator  with 
constructive  imagination  to  determine 
the  underlying,  not  the  apparent,  cause 
of  the  need. 

(3)  Decision  as  to  the  Remedy : 
The  plan  for  attacking,  and,  so  far  as 
possible,  removing  the  cause;  involv¬ 
ing,  besides  a  keen  analysis  of  all  the 
features  of  the  case,  the  determination 
as  to  the  precise  conditions  to  be  re¬ 
quired  of  all  concerned ;  what  measure 
of  financial  responsibility  should  be 
borne  by  relatives,  etc. 

(4)  Application  of  the  Remedy : 
Making  effective  the  decision.  One  of 
the  most  important  considerations,  its 
employment  or  its  absence  marking  the 
distinction  between  effective  effort  and 
cheap  advice. 

(5)  Responsibility,  Direct  and  In¬ 
direct,  Upon  Admission:  That  is  to  say, 
the  direct  responsibility  for  the  proper 
care  of  the  child,  and  the  indirect  re¬ 
sponsibility  for  observation,  and,  if 
necessary,  for  definite  action,  to  enforce 
or  assist  in  carrying  out  the  conditions 
prescribed.  This  latter  may  involve 
some  definite  action,  quite  apart  from 
the  care  of  the  child. 

(6)  Investigation  Before  Dis¬ 
charge:  In  cases  where  the  child  has 
been  taken,  the  necessary  assurance  that 
discharge  is  justified  and  proper;  that 
conditions  have  been  complied  with; 
or  it  may  be  the  discovery  that  further 
extension  of  care  is  imperative,  if  all 


that  has  been  done  is  not  to  go  for 
naught. 

(7)  Subsequent  Inquiry  to  Learn 
Results:  That  very  necessary  step  by 
which  to  test  the  real  value  of  our 
work,  and,  in  many  instances,  the  one 
instrument  with  which  to  make  our 
work  effective. 

(8)  Tabulation  of  Results :  The 
necessary  statistical  work  by  means  of 
which  the  valuable  record  of  our  ex¬ 
perience  is  made  serviceable  for  study 
and  for  future  guidance.  A  topical  in¬ 
dex  of  the  important  features  of  cases 
dealt  with,  and  also  of  the  character  of 
the  work  done  by  other  agencies  with 
whom  we  have  perhaps  co-operated. 

how  these:  principles  work. 

Now  let  me  tell  you  a  true  story  that 
will  illustrate  the  working  of  these  prin¬ 
ciples.  About  two  years  ago  Mrs.  Blank, 
a  widow,  asked  the  Children’s  Aid  So¬ 
ciety  to  take,  for  a  few  weeks,  her  two 
children,  aged  four  and  a  half  and  three. 
She  said  that  she  was  tired,  and  thought 
a  few  weeks’  freedom  from  the  care 
of  the  little  ones  would  be  a  great  re¬ 
lief.  Admitting  the  premise,  which  was 
evident,  her  conclusion  was,  after  seeing 
the  children,  easy  to  reach.  The  woman 
was  working  in  a  shop  for  $4.50  per 
week,  and  living  with  her  aged  parents 
in  one  of  the  suburbs,  the  man  not 
strong,  but  working  some,  and  the  old 
woman  just  able  to  do  the  housework. 
It  was  easy  to  see  that  all  was  not  well 
with  the  mother  physically. 

Inquiry  at  the  registration  bureau  of 
the  Associated  Charities  showed  that 
they  had  no  record  of  the  family,  nor 
had  any  inquiry  concerning  the  woman 
or  children  been  made  by  any  other  ag¬ 
ency.  Note  here  the  first  step  in  co¬ 
operation.  Investigation  at  the  home 
confirmed  the  mother’s  story,  and  also 
revealed  the  fact  that  she  had  a  serious 
illness,  for  which  a  physician  had  long 
before  advised  an  operation.  It  was 
clear,  therefore,  that  simply  to  take  the 
children  for  a  few  weeks,  at  first  sight 
a  kindly  thing  to  do,  would  be  no  real 
help. 

She  was  at  length  persuaded,  though 
only  after  repeated  interviews,  to  allow 


our  agent  to  accompany  her  to  one  of 
our  consulting  physicians,  a  woman, 
who  confirmed  the  finding  of  the  other 
physician.  Diagnosis  of  the  need :  the 
mother’s  health  should  be  restored,  if 
possible,  so  that  she  can  stand  some 
chance  of  continuing  to  support  her 
children.  Decision  as  to  the  remedy: 
she  should  be  sent  to  a  hospital  for  the 
operation,  which  will  be  performed  by 
our  physician,  and  in  the  meantime  the 
children  must  be  cared  for  without  ex¬ 
pense  to  her.  This  definite  decision  is 
therefore  given  and  recorded:  “John 
and  Sarah  are  to  be  boarded  in  a  family 
at  the  expense  of  the  Society.  Case 
to  be  reconsidered  in  four  weeks.” 

Now  comes  the  application  of  the 
remedy.  The  appointed  time  for 
mother  and  children  to  come  to  the  of¬ 
fice  arrives,  but  they  did  not.  She  has 
decided  that  she  “can’t  do  it,  after  all.” 
She  will  get  along  as  she  has.  This 
our  investigating  agent  discovered  on 
going  to  look  them  up.  Further  argu¬ 
ment  follows,  and  at  length  prevails, 
and  the  little  family  reaches  the  office 
in  charge  of  the  agent,  who  has  not 
dared  to  leave  the  woman  for  fear  she 
would  not  hold  to  her  purpose. 

We  now  enter  the  fifth  stage:  Di¬ 
rect  responsibility  for  the  good  care  of 
the  children,  and  indirect  responsibility 
for  the  mother.  She  must  be  conducted 
to  the  very  door  of  the  hospital  by  the 
investigating  agent,  while  the  placing- 
out  visitor  takes  the  children  to  the  fam¬ 
ily  that  she  has  carefully  chosen.  A 
slight  suspicion  regarding  their  physi¬ 
cal  condition  has,  however,  caused  her 
to  take  them  first  to  the  Eye  and  Ear 
Infirmary,  where  adenoids  are  removed 
and  an  ear  treated. 

As  the  case  is  to  be  reconsidered  in 
four  weeks,  the  investigating  agent 
makes  an  entry  on  her  daily  calendar, 
and  when  the  day  arrives  she  learns 
from  the  doctor  the  mother’s  condition : 
in  other  words,  here  is  investigation 
before  discharge.  The  doctor  reports 
that  the  woman  has  made  a  good  recov¬ 
ery  but  needs  at  least  three  weeks’  rest 
in  the  country  before  going  to  work. 
It  is  accordingly  decided  to  extend  the 


time  and  arrange  for  the  woman  to  go 
to  a  convalescent  home.  Again  the 
agent  makes  a  note  on  the  calendar,  and 
again,  when  the  day  arrives,  she  learns 
the  mother’s  condition.  This  time  it  is 
found  to  be  excellent,  and  accordingly 
they  all  return  home. 

At  the  time  of  giving  the  decision  to 
discharge  the  children,  we  have  decided 
on  a  definite  plan  for  subsequent  in¬ 
quiry,  to  learn  results:  an  inquiry  in 
two  weeks  to  be  sure  that  the  woman’s 
strength  is  proving  sufficient  to  enable 
her  to  work.  Another  inquiry,  made  a 
year  later,  resulted  in  the  woman’s  call¬ 
ing  to  tell  how  she  was  getting  on,  and 
bringing  with  her  a  friend  who  was  in 
trouble.  “I  have  brought  her,”  she  said, 
“because  you  make  people  do  things 
that  are  good  for  them,  whether  they 
want  to  or  not.” 

As  to  the  eighth  principle,  the  tabu¬ 
lation  of  results;  the  reason  that  this 
case  is  available  for  illustration  is  be¬ 
cause  there  is  a  card  in  our  “topical 
index”  headed,  “Parents,  work  for — 
case  of  John  and  Sarah  Blank.” 

TWO  KINDS  OF  CASES. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  cases  which 
especially  require  the  most  careful  and 
scientific  dealing,  and  together  they 
form  a  very  large  proportion  of  all  that 
are  received.  First,  those  in  which  the 
separation  of  the  children  from  their 
parents  should  be  permitted  only  upon 
certain  conditions  which  aim  at  recon¬ 
struction.  The  case  just  described  is 
an  example  of  this  very  large  class. 
Simply  to  remove  the  children  from  the 
family  as  requested,  would  have  been 
as  purposeless  and  ineffectual  as  for  a 
physician  to  treat  symptoms  instead  of 
the  disease.  It  was  proper  and  neces¬ 
sary  here  to  take  the  children,  but  the 
separation  was  only  justified  by  the  effort 
made  to  restore  the  mother’s  health. 

Then  there  is  another  kind  of  case 
which  comes  in  a  great  variety  of  forms 
and  which  may  safely  be  said  to  include 
more  than  half  of  all  that  are  presented 
to  the  Society  which  I  represent ;  the 
case  in  which  the  separation  of  the  child 
from  the  family  is  quite  unnecessary 


and  therefore  improper.  Take  for  ex¬ 
ample  the  case  of  a  young  Swedish 
couple,  who  recently  asked  to  have  their 
baby  taken  so  that  the  woman  could 
go  out  to  work  and  add  to  the  income. 
The  man  was  earning  $11.00  per  week 
and  nearly  all  went  for  food  and  rent. 
Here  was  a  case  for  a  friendly  visitor 
who  would  go  into  the  home  and  teach 
the  young  wife  ordinary  household 
economies,  how  to  provide,  how  to  cook, 
etc.  To  take  a  child  away  under  such 
circumstances  would  be  distinctly 
wrong;  instead,  the  case  was  placed  in 
the  hands  of  the  Associated  Charities 
for  visiting  the  home. 

WORK  OF  FIVE  SOCIETIES. 

While  it  cannot  be  said  that  such 
work  is  done  nowhere  else,  there- are  but 
five  of  our  large  cities  in  which  the 
children’s  aid  societies  have  organized 
special  departments  for  this  work  of 
case  diagnosis;  for  giving  information 
and  advice.  Beginning  here  in  Phila¬ 
delphia  in  the  year  1882,  with  the  or¬ 
ganization  of  the  Children’s  Aid  So¬ 
ciety  and  Bureau  of  Information,  the 
work  soon  proved  of  the  greatest  value. 
Miss  Kerr,  superintendent  of  the  so¬ 
ciety,  says  of  it  today,  “It  is  impossible 
to  estimate  the  value  of  its  personal 
service,  involving  often  many  days  of 
investigation  and  study,  which  is  freely 
given  from  this  Bureau  to  every  case 
where  the  interests  of  a  child  and  a 
home  are  at  stake.” 

The  work  was  at  first  undertaken  in 
Boston  about  twenty  years  ago  by  Mr. 
Birtwell.  While  considering  applica¬ 
tions  for  the  admission  of  boys  to  the 
training  farm  at  that  time  maintained 
by  the  Boston  Children’s  Aid  Society, 
he  found  himself  confronted  by  cases 
presenting  a  variety  of  needs ;  cases 
wherein  he  could  see  that  only  wise 
advice  was  needed;  others  in  which,  to 
reach  the  root  of  the  difficulty,  he  found 
it  necessary  to  do  something  more  than 
simply  to  take  the  child. 

Case  by  case  these  were  met,  and  in 
1888  the  Children’s  Aid  Society  com¬ 
mitted  itself  definitely  to  the  work,  es¬ 
tablishing  its  Bureau  of  Information, 


which,  during  the  past  eighteen  years, 
has  dealt  with  the  application  of  more 
than  18,000  children,  and  is  receiving 
about  1,300  annually.  This  department 
is  now  maintained  at  an  annual  expense 
of  about  $6,000.00;  a  sum  equal  to  the 
entire  expenditure  of  the  Society  twenty 
year  ago  but  representing  but  13  per 
cent  of  the  total  expenditure  today. 

In  1898  three  other  children’s  aid  so¬ 
cieties  established  similar  departments : 
the  Henry  Watson  Children’s  Aid  So¬ 
ciety  in  Baltimore,  the  Brooklyn  Chil¬ 
dren’s  Aid  Society,  and  the  Children’s 
Home  and  Aid  Society  of  Chicago.  In 
announcing  to  the  public  the  formation 
of  the  new  bureau,  the  Baltimore  so¬ 
ciety  invited  all  other  institutions  to  use 
it  as  a  registration  bureau.  It  is  now 
investigating  the  application  of  about 
350  children  annually.  The  Bureau  of 
Counsel,  Relief  and  Investigation  of  the 
Brooklyn  society  received,  last  year, 
applications  involving  700  children,  and 
the  “Aid  Department”  of  the  Chicago 
society  received  applications  involving 
1,600. 

PRACTICAL  CO-OPERATION. 

But  now  we  come  to  a  very  practi¬ 
cal  question:  What  are  the  smaller  in¬ 
dependent  societies  to  do,  with  no  such 
equipment  possible  as  is  possessed  by 
the  large  agency?  I  want  before  clos¬ 
ing  to  give  a  brief  description  of  one  or 
two  ways  in  which  different  societies  in 
and  near  Boston  have  sought  to  solve 
the  problem,  for  they  may  be  suggestive 
to  others. 

First  as  to  the  day  nurseries.  Some 
five  years  ago,  several  of  the  day  nur¬ 
series  entered  into  an  agreement  with 
the  Children’s  Aid  Society  by  which 
they  reported  to  the  Society’s  Bureau 
of  Information  every  case  in  which 
they  refused  admission  to  the  nurseries 
for  any  cause  whatever.  Thus  they 
discharged  their  responsibility  toward 
all  who  came  to  them. 

Later  came  the  formation  of  a  new 
admission  committee  in  one  of  the  nur¬ 
series.  After  requesting  the  Children’s 
Aid  Society  to  do  for  them  all  work  of 
investigation  and  admission,  the  manag¬ 
ers  finally  adopted  this  plan  suggested 


by  Mr.  Birtwell:  Besides  employing  a 
trained  investigator,  they  formed  a 
committee  on  admission,  made  up  of 
the  chairman  and  one  other  member  of 
their  Board,  their  matron,  a  member  of 
the  executive  staff  of  the  Associated 
Charities,  and  one  from  the  Children’s 
Aid  Society.  Here  you  have  a  distinct 
and  very  suggestive  effort  to  meet  this 
responsibility  on  which  I  have  laid  such 
stress.  A  still  further  development 
along  this  line -is  the  experiment  now 
being  made,  a  joint  case  committee, 
representing  in  similar  fashion  several 
nurseries  instead  of  one,  and  including 
in  its  membership  representatives  of 
the  paid  staffs  of  the  Children’s  Mis¬ 
sion,  Children’s  Friend  Society  and  the 
Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty 
to  Children. 

Again,  a  Children’s  Home  in  Cam¬ 
bridge  has  adopted  the  plan  of  seeking 
the  advice  of  the  Associated  Charities 
on  questions  of  admission.  This  is 
very  suggestive  of  possibilities  in  other 
communities. 

Other  interesting  developments  may 
be  seen  in  the  reorganization  of  the 
Boston  Children’s  Friend  Society  in 
1900,  and  the  Worcester  Children’s 
Friend  Society  in  1903,  where,  besides 
changing  from  the  institution  to  the 
placing-out  method,  consultation  bu¬ 
reaus  were  established  by  means  of 
which  questions  of  admission  should  be 
decided  and  other  valuable  assistance 
given  when  needed;  and  a  similar  in¬ 
stance  is  that  of  the  Children’s  Mis¬ 
sion,  where  a  trained  agent  has  been 
for  several  years  employed  for  this 
work  of  admission  and  advice.  In  all 
of  these  instances  the  agents  had  work¬ 
ed  with  the  Boston  Children’s  Aid  So¬ 
ciety.  The  Children’s  Friend  Society 
is  receiving  applications  at  the  rate  of 
about  600  children  per  year,  and  the 
Children’s  Mission  about  800.  It 
should  be  understood  that  we  have  in 
Boston  a  very  effective  scheme  of  co¬ 
operation  in  the  registration  bureau  of 
the  Associated  Charities,  where  all  the 
leading  agencies  are  accustomed  to  in¬ 
quire  for  information  upon  the  receipt 
of  each  application.  Without  such  fa- 


k 


cilities  it  is  easy  to  see  what  complica¬ 
tions  might  arise,  where  several  inde¬ 
pendent  bureaus  are  dealing  with  such 
a  large  number  of  cases. 

a  few  CAUTIONS. 

Let  me  add  here,  in  closing,  a  few 
cautions. 

1.  Do  not  have  rules  that  will  set 
limits  to  your  work.  Even  general 
principles  you  must  always  hold  sub¬ 
ject  to  exception. 

2.  No  application  should  be  consid¬ 
ered  without  inquiry  to  secure  all  the 
information  about  the  case  which  the 
co-operative  schemes  of  your  com¬ 
munity  afford. 

3.  An  application  to  take  a  child 
may  call  for  action  as  far  removed  as 
possible  from  that  asked  for. 

4.  It  rarely  happens  that  the  simple 
act  of  taking  and  caring  for  a  child, 
even  when  such  action  is  desirable,  is 
alone  adequate  to  the  need. 

5.  If  you  take  children  in  an  emer¬ 
gency,  it  is  your  duty  to  see  them 
through  that  emergency.  Have  no 
rules  that  will  make  your  methods  so 
inelastic  as  to  prevent  this. 

6.  When  children  are  taken,  rela¬ 
tives  should  be  required  to  contribute 
towards  their  support  as  far  as  possible. 

We  have  been  taught  to  believe  that 
two  things  were  necessary  in  social 
work,  namely:  warm  sympathy  and 
sound  judgment  in  happy  combination. 
I  venture  to  name  a  third  essential, 
this  professional  sense,  to  which  I  have 
already  referred ;  the  sense  of  responsi¬ 
bility,  which  will  give  our  work  wise 
direction,  definite  standards  and  general 
effectiveness. 


SOCIAL  PSYCHOLOGY. 

This  will  require  of  us  all,  if  we  wisfe 
to  be  tolerated,  progressive,  construe!! 
tive  work :  the  constant  measuring  up  t'| 
the  highest  standards.  The  quack,  th«| 
unprofessional  doctor,  is  no  greatel 
menace  to  the  community  than  the  uni 
professional,  paid  charity-worker,  an<| 
the  sooner  we  cease  to  tolerate  the  latf 
ter,  the  better  it  will  be  for  the  comi 
munity.  Now  the  pity  of  it  is  that  th<| 
community  does  not  yet  require  of  u.c| 
certain  standards  of  excellence,  as  isj 
does  of  the  lawyer  and  physician;  bub 
will  anyone  say  that  there  is  less  need; 
of  it;  that  the  work  which  Dr.  Cabot; 
dignifies  by  the  name  of  Social  Psy-j 
chology,  is  of  less  vital  import  than  that) 
of  the  lawyer  or  doctor?  We  tinker: 
with  the  affairs,  the  very  lives  of  peo-l 
pie;  take  a  child  out  of  its  home,  per-; 
haps  change  the  whole  plan  of  life  of 
an  entire  family;  and  what  about  the 
wisdom  of  it  all?  One  of  our  great 
teachers  of  the  present  day  has  recently 
said  that  the  beginning  of  wisdom  is 
the  desire  for  discipline.  Now  neither 
sympathy  with  our  client,  nor  the 
soundest  judgment  of  the  need  that  we 
have  at  the  time,  will  bring  us  this  dis¬ 
cipline.  What  we  must  have  is  the  will¬ 
ingness  of  the  man  of  science  to  sub¬ 
ject  his  methods  and  his  thoughts  to 
the  test  of  comparison  with  the  largest 
discoveries  of  the  laboratory;  the  feel¬ 
ing  of  responsibility  which  will  cause 
us  to  pursue  our  daily  work  with  vigor 
and  courage,  but  yet  with  serious  con¬ 
cern  and  humility,  keeping  our  minds 
receptive  to  the  newest  truth  and  being 
ever  ready  for  the  next  forward  step. 


